Transatlantic Slave Trade

Britain’s colonies in North America went from a society with slaves to a slave society. Owning slaves became a key part of everyday life for many plantation owners by the end of the period. Throughout the period, the focus shifted from indentured servitude to slavery because slaves proved to be more profitable. Slavery in the colonies stayed so popular because it was based on racial, social, and economic values. It changed the way that plantation owners did things, and they wanted to keep their own profits

Prior to the movement of European Imperialism in Africa, a major law was passed. In 1807, the British government banned the Transatlantic slave trade. As a result, in 1833, slavery as a whole was completely demolished. Slavery was a very profitable trade for not only Britain, but many other European powers. Without the slave trade, many European nations were looking for a new way to expand their power of others. Therefore, many European nations switched their focus and claimed their share of the African continent, in order to continue their economic and social dominance (Document A).

In the nineteenth century, slavery was a huge problem between several colonies. While some thought it was needed to thrive as a country, others didn’t see the importance. The southern colonies argued that slavery was needed to support the country as a whole, providing a stable economic environment and resources that would benefit the people of those colonies. Many Southern proslavery supporters used legal, religious, and economic arguments to convince others that slavery had several benefits and should not be withdrawn from the country.    

After the American Revolution ended in 1783 the British began looking for political and religious reforms that would prevent any further humiliation in the future. It became that “…the abolition of the slave trade was inextricably linked with the character, virtue, and destiny of the British nation…” making it a political priority. Most of the beginning work towards abolition was through the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (SEAST),

From 1776 to 1852, there was growing opposition towards slavery in the United States. (PV) Underlying forces and specific events contributed to this. Events that contributed towards the growing opposition towards slavery include the increase in religious beliefs, increase in media, and the abolishment movement. These changes caused the thoughts of the people to change towards thoughts that were against slavery. The people began to feel as though slavery was something that was not right and should be eliminated as soon as possible. Previously, slavery was something that was basically the norm in society, and many people did not think much of it. PV Without these specific things happening, opposition to slavery may not have been as evident in

Slavery played a crucial role in financing the Industrial Revolution in Britain. The plantation owners and the merchants linked with the slave trade and slavery and used it to amass vast fortunes that later grew to reach capitalism globally. In 1944, Eric Williams came up with great ideas on capitalism and slavery. According to Eric Williams, the decline of the British West Indies occasioned the

Without slavery, globalization wouldn't have such a start within the new world. As these people who were enslaved were the ones creating the products that were to be traded for other items. The cheap labour the colonies have created from these

After the colonists began to portray disgust in British rule over America, the British tried to tighten their grip over the colonies to avoid a revolt. The British parliament instituted many taxes on the colonists that made their everyday life much harder than it already was. The First Navigation Act of 1651 “increased the nation’s (Britain) commercial revenues by restricting the economic freedom of its colonies” (103) and the Navigation Act of 1663 which required that all colonial imports “have a tax paid on them before their reshipment to the colonies” (104). The taxes that American businesses had to pay, forced them to increase production of goods so they could maintain the same or better level of income. To combat these taxes, businesses in the south implemented slavery so they could keep the economy and their business’s above water. This mass use of slavery generated significant racial tensions between the whites and blacks in the south. Slavery gave a superficial sense of power over the blacks to the whites that developed into harsh racism against African Americans. The 3/5ths compromise showed that the white colonists thought the enslaved blacks did not even equate to a whole human being. This disrespect and discrimination against African Americans created significant class tensions that still affect us

Thanks to the actions by the colonial powers, the slave trade grinded to a halt and the only source of slaves was offspring of other slaves. This essentially turned slavery from an external and internal trade, to a solely internal trade.

Abolishment of Slavery Slavery was caused by economic factors of the English settlers in the late 17th century. Colonists continually tried to allure laborers to the colony. The head right system was to give the indentured servant, a method of becoming independent after a number of years of service. Slavery was caused by economic reasons. Colonists chiefly relied on Indentured Servitude, in order to facilitate their need for labor. The decreasing population combined with a need for a labor force, led colonists to believe that African slaves were the most efficient way to acquire a labor force that would satisfy their needs. Slaves were people who were taken from their homeland in Africa and brought to America, to serve as servants on

The Revolutionary War transformed life for those in Britain’s American colonies. Amid the disorder American society changed and institutions adapted, while the American people’s values shifted. Unlike their beliefs prior to the Revolutionary War, most Americans stopped condoning slavery during and after the war, as it contradicted the principle of liberty that America was founded on. Widespread disapproval could not end slavery and its underlying racism in the U.S., for the economy had become dependent on slave labor, though it did yield more opportunities for slaves to gain their freedom. Before the war, Americans treated slaves inhumanely, viewing slaves as a way to make profit. Turmoil throughout the war allowed slaves to seize opportunities

This is due to the fact that the entirety of Britain felt the benefits and was involved in the slave trade, not just the commonly credited port cities. Meanwhile, in comparison to other countries, Britain enjoyed the most success, both economically and in terms of new territory, thus making Britain no better than the other European powers involved. Although some may argue that it is now too late for an apology to be worthwhile, the evidence of slavery’s impact still alive today backs this up further by proving that time has not changed the need for an apology. The evidence overall backs the argument that Britain should apologise for their involvement in the transatlantic slave

Even though the slavery was introduced in the early 1600s, it had no doubt that the abolitionist inaugurated the movements about the slavery actively from early 1850s. The slavery became the essential part of industry in the South more than in the North because of the large plantations and slave trades. So in the Southerners’ perspective, the slave flourished the businesses with their inexpensive labor forces in order to profit; they argued slaves were by and large a culturally inferior, child-like people who were treated well by whites and thus content with their status in life. However, Uncle Tom’s Cabin described the slavery as an evil institution that must be abolished accurately from the historians today.

The enslavement of millions of black slaves was the reason for Europe's rise to global economic dominance and thee settlement of the New World. Slave profits was important to support banks, factories, and financing infrastructure projects, like railways, which helped fuel the industrial revolution in England. However, the free labor in America was economically beneficial to Europe in how slave

Slavery had an extremely important role in the development of Europead wealth in the 19th century as it brang in large amounts of money. This money was used to fund the industrial revolution which was growing rapidly at the time. At the beggining of the 19th century the British Government received millions of pounds in revenue from the slave trade. People who were heavily involved in the slave trade now had the profits to build many of the new technologies that were changing the world. Famous business such as Barclays Bank and the Phoenix insurance were established from the profits from slave plantations, despite the abolition of the slave trade. Britains own primo mister invested the wrath from his plantation in his own trade empire which